By TED MILLER, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, June 19, 2003

While the University of Washington athletic department continues to investigate how many coaches and staff members participated in betting pools on the NCAA basketball tournament, at least one NFL coordinator apparently is investigating the availability of the Huskies' head coaching position.

Athletic director Barbara Hedges previously admitted she had been contacted by a coach about the job -- apparently Weis, via his agent -- though she wouldn't reveal his name.

Mora, a Bellevue native who played linebacker for Don James in the early 1980s, didn't return messages left by the P-I yesterday -- a day after saying he hadn't spoken to the UW.

Mora's agent, Bob LaMonte, said he was unaware of any contact. A spokesman for 49ers general manager Terry Donahue said he had not talked to the UW about Mora, who signed a two-year contract with the 49ers three months ago.

Daves said the school won't conduct any coaching search until its negotiations with Rick Neuheisel are resolved.

The UW assigned offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson supervisory duties over the football program on Tuesday, and he continues to be the frontrunner to coach the Huskies this fall.

Neuheisel remains the head coach while on suspension with pay until he completes the appeals process of his termination outlined in his contract, a process that could take up to six weeks, according to Hedges.

A UW-related Web site reported yesterday that Neuheisel will attend the Huskies' football camp, which runs tomorrow through Tuesday. Attempts to confirm this with Neuheisel were unsuccessful. The UW refused to confirm or deny the report.

Neuheisel, who received a letter of just cause termination on June 11, has until Thursday to appeal the university's decision to fire him for breaking NCAA rules by participating in a high-stakes gambling pool on the NCAA basketball tournament and multiple instances of dishonesty.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's office is in the process of interviewing Huskies coaches in all sports to determine the extent of pool betting in the department, the P-I has learned.

Neuheisel's letter of termination mentioned that he'd also entered a Final Four pool within the football office. Gilbertson told the P-I last Friday that he participated in that $3 pool in 1999, but Hedges said it shouldn't affect his candidacy to become the head coach.

Former UW quarterbacks coach Steve Axman, now UCLA's offensive coordinator, told the P-I he also participated in that pool and has self-reported the NCAA violation. Former UW assistant Bobby Hauck, now head coach at the University of Montana, said he "would assume I did" take part in the pool.

As for any further pools, Hauck said he couldn't remember.

New UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell and Stanford assistant Wayne Moses, also on the Huskies staff in 1999, said they didn't bet in the pool.

The UW wants to know about all pools involving staff members, which likely would constitute minor violations if they were for small sums, before NCAA investigators come to town next week.

The UW won't comment on its on-going investigation.

Weis, a 13-year NFL coaching veteran, has been the offensive coordinator for the Patriots and the New York Jets. He has been on the coaching staff of two Super Bowl teams.

His only college coaching experience came as a South Carolina assistant from 1985-88.

"The only thing I was trying to do is say there is interest on his end," said Kelly. "We put a fish hook in the water to see if we could catch anything. ... It's certainly one of the top-10 or top-15 college jobs."